February 5th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) Costa Rica presented this morning a formal protest to the Venezuela-based international television network, TeleSUR, after the television network claimed there were United States military forces and a naval base in Costa Rica’s Guanacaste province.

In the report, which originally aired during Costa Rica’s general elections on Sunday, the broadcaster claimed that the U.S. had installed 46 warships, some 200 helicopter gunships, six Harrier fighter jets, an aircraft carrier and 13,000 Marines as well as a radar and naval base in Guanacaste.

Communications Minister, Carlos Roverssi is calling for the government of Venezuela to be held responsible, calling it state media of the Venezuelan government.

“The government of Venezuela will have to respond,” Roverssi said. “There is a strategy of the radical left in Latin America of trying to destabilize Costa Rica.”

“We told Telesur they were invited to come to Costa Rica to find the marines and ships, this is a very serious issue, the political image of the country is at stake,” Roverssi added.

The U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica dismissed Telesur’s claims in a statement to Inside Costa Rica, calling them “completely inaccurate,” though it did say that aircraft involved in the war on drugs have occasionally landed at the Liberia airport to refuel.

“No U.S. military troops or ships are based in Costa Rica and there are no future plans for such,” the embassy told Inside Costa Rica.

The Embassy added that it also works closely with the Ministry of Public Security (MSP). “The U.S. government provides training, equipment and infrastructure to [Costa Rica] in their effort to increase border security and protect Costa Ricans against the threat of international criminal organizations,” the embassy said.